I had a teacher who sang a lot with us many years ago and this one was a favourite--not that it would be today.

My memory says the words are:

Down in the canebrake, close by the mill,
There lived a coloured girl. Her name was Nancy Dill.
I told her that I loved her. I loved her there alone.
I'm going to serenade her and this'll be my song:

CHORUS: Come, m'love, come. My boat lies low.
She lies high and dry on the Ohio.
Come, m'love, come. Won't y'come along with me,
And I'll take y'back to Tennessee.

Down in the canebrake, there's where I'll go,
Down where the yella moon is hangin' mighty low.
I know that she'll be waitin' beside the cabin door,
And she'll be mighty happy when I tell her once more...CHORUS

Down in the canebrake
[THE NEXT COUPLE OF LINES HAVE ESCAPED ME.]
And in a trundle bed
There'll be a piccaninny, and all because I said...CHORUS

Down in the canebrake, there's where I'll stay,
Along the side of Nancy Dill until we're laid away.
And when we gits to heaven, if Peter lets us in,
I'll start my wings a-flappin' and sing to her again...CHORUS

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 15-Apr-02.